1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates an anti-stuffing device for use on a pay telephone. More specifically, the invention relates to a coin return assembly having a hinged member within the coin return chute of a pay telephone.
2. Description of Related Art
Public telephones, and consequently their users, are often the victims of vandals and thieves. As is well known, a typical pay telephone has a coin deposit slot near the top of the phone, and a coin return near the bottom of the phone. Returned coins pass through a coin return chute which empties into a coin return bucket. Coins are retrieved by the user through an opening in the front face of the telephone. Often, there is a hinged door on the face of the phone through which access to the coin bucket area is gained by inserting a finger through an opening pushing the door into the bucket area. In some cases, this design is used to partially block the coin return chute so that foreign material may not be placed up into the coin return chute. Other designs take into account that the phone user may wish to see inside the coin bucket area before inserting his finger for retrieving the coins.
Would-be thieves jam foreign material up into the coin return chute through the opening either manually or with the aid of a thin wire. Similarly, a thief can pass foreign material through the coin slot with the aid of a thin wire. In either situation, the coin path is blocked. When the pay phone is so stuffed, coins are prevented from being returned to the calling customer. The would-be thief then later returns and removes the stuffing material at which time the coins fall through the phone to the return bucket for collection by the thief.
Typically, the thief will remove the stuffing material by inserting a thin wire into the coin return chute and pulling the material through the opening. Some telephones have a wire cutting device in the coin path to prevent thieves from using this method Alternatively, the thief may use flammable material for stuffing. When he is ready to collect the coins, the thief will fill the coin bucket with gasoline or lighter fluid. The thief then ignites the fluid which sends flames up through the coin return chute burning the flammable stuffing material and clearing the path for coins. In the same manner, vandals may set the phone on fire.
Paper or plastic material is often used as the flammable stuffing material. When plastic is used, it creates the added problem of leaving melted plastic particles throughout the inside of the telephone.
Other phones are designed with mechanisms to prevent a coin tethered to a string from being repeatedly passed by the coin sensor. Typically, a mechanism is provided to prevent coins from traveling backwards through the coin path so that a single coin cannot register more than once. These mechanisms do not address problems related to stuffing the telephone from the coin return.
Accordingly, it is desirable to have a coin return apparatus that is provided with means for preventing the stuffing or spread of flames up through the coin return chute into more sensitive areas of the telephone.